Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1887-05-30
MEMORIAL SERMON
PREACHED LAST EVENING TO A LARGE
CONGREGATION By REY. GBO. r. HTHR.
"Voiess from The Dead" the Subject from Which
ar ELOQUENT and Entertaining Discourse Was
Dsliysred-A Synopsis.

pECdCuHu lslSl SNShibS az 'hV
street church by Rev. Geo. L. Hite. A
large number of the members Of the q. A.
K. were present, besides many Others, the
church being well filed. The sermon
was an eloquent one, being listened to at
tentively. The Reverend gentleman took
his text from Heb. xii. II. By faith
Abel offered unto God more excellent
sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained
witness that he was righteous, God testi-
fying to his gifts; and by it he, being
dead, yet speAketh."
Onlya synopsis of the sermon can be
printed. The speaker said
We are met here tonight, my friends, to
Law one more garland of grateful and low
ing remembrance upon the graves of our
heroic dead who lost their lives while fight
ing for the preservation Of the Union-the
men "who counted not their lives dear
unto themselves when the nations life
was in danger" And have been asked by
the equally heroic men who have survived
the perils and privations Of war, and the
yicissitudes Of time rs well, to speak some
suitable words, to give some suitable eX-
preston of the feeling they entertain for
their dead comrades, and which We all en-
terrain for the brave men who died in de-
Tense of our common country.
This custom OF comrades, compatriOts
aud fellOwcitizens assembling together in
the Christian churches throughout the
land to commemorate in solemn religious
seryiccs-in prayer, song, and sermon, the
many virtues and valarous deeds Of the
nations dead soldiers is proper and right.
lt gives the sanction of the church OF
the living God to the cause for which they
died Ii was q worthy cause. Had it
been otherwise such n gathering and ser
vice as we have here tonight would not
he possible.
1t is also an expression OF the nations
faith IN the verities of the Christian Telig-
ion. Our Nation is not IN iniidel Nation.
Her motto, stamped upon her coin and
emblazoned on her banners is this: In
God we trust" And this was the motto
of her army. 1t was an unwavering faith
in the experimenting presence and over
ruling power Of God that sustained the
Nations heart in the dark days of the
rebellion. She Oft repeated to herself this
passage-''Surely the Judge of the whole
Earth will do right"
Meeting rs we do here tonight we are
concentrating in the most solemn and
sacred way known to man, the sacrifice
the noble men made who
sleep the sleep that knows not break
ing. and dream of battle fields no more. "
The text | have selected for this OcCa-
sion is the 18th verse of the 18th chapter OF
Hebrews; but the remarks | propose
making will have TO DO with the last
clause only-"being de0i get speakeih"
The thought embodied in these words is
this: there is a sense in which death can
not silence the voice of the dead-a sense
in which those that are dead still live
Being dead yet speaketh." The inilu-
ence that d man sets in operation by his
words or deeds lives q thousand ayes after
death has palsied the thrObbing heart.
"No man liveth unto himself and no man
dieth unto himself" None live without
exerting an influence upon Others. We
cannot limit our influence To the narrow
circle of self And this influence will he
transmitted from one individual To an
other and from one generation to another,
and will live and act with accommodating,
force to the close OF time. The natural
world furnishes countless analOgies at the
ceascleSs operation of human influence.
by your living example, your action,
thought, purpose, You are putting in mo-
ton a power that will survive yOurSelf-a
power that shall live, act, and move To the
latest generation" With what solemnlty
does this fact clothe human life? Hands
that are "haniShed" touch us and voices
that are "Still," speak to us.
What is it that these voices from the
dead say to us? What are the lessons in
culcated by those, who, being dead yet
speaketh?
They speak in thunder tones of the
value OF our common country.
TO these heroic souls whose memory we
so proudly cherish, the most precious of all
temporal things was country. They re-
g;lrded it rs gift of God, an Inheritance
baptized with the blood of the heroes of
20 and subsequent wars.
They tore themselves from the clinging
arms of mothers, wives, and sweetheartS
and with fearful iarewells turned their
faces toward the quarter from whence
they heard the sound of conflict. Humid
reds of thousands of them never to cross
the severed threshold OF home again, and
never this side the spirit world To see tAe
faces of the dear ones ut home. They were
- h.,
hearts. The Constitution was to them
almost an inspired document and regarded
with almost us much reverence Us they
regarded the Bible itself.
We're they deluded? DO the blessings
that this Government secures tO all its cit
liens without distinction of race or color
Justify such a display of heroism-such u
sacrifice ls was made for its preservation?
Every loyal man is quick with his answer,
YES; and Unnecessary to crush out treason
and preserve the integrity of the Union, let
the Sacriace be double" What country on
earth to-day equals our own? Free educa-
ton is fOStered and encouraged. The poor
mans son stands on IN equal footing with
the rich mans son 80 tar as any prefer
ments and gifts the nation has To bestOw.
And yet, there are SOM who make
their homes among us who do not love this
government and are ready to stab it to
death. You have heard their murmurs of
discomfort and OutSpoken sentiments Of
disleyalty-WhO are they? They are not
Americans, they are not the men, soldiers
of the Grand Army of the Republic, who
bravely contested with you many bloody
field. Then who are these enemies? They
are those who have come to us from the
lands across the sea. Ignorant of Our
couutry's laws and S-irreSpOn-
sible and reckless spirits, with nothing to
lose and too lazy to wOrk-they come
among us to sow the seeds of discomfort, of
diSloyalty and revolution.
OF such pestilential spirits the gallOws
and penitentiary should free society.
Again, from three hundred thousand
graves, in which sleep the dust of the SOL
diers of the Union, in thrilling tones us
trumpet call: We are bound to he vigilant
moi to sleep on the picket post and 10